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‘Women with large chests have a harder time getting videos approved’: Alleged Ex-TikTok insider reveals what really gets your content removed

That ‘cute winter boots’ scheme might not be as effective as some users hoped.

Photo of Lindsey Weedston

Lindsey Weedston

2 panel image: on the left is a post from a Reddit user and on the right is the Tiktok logo with a banned symbol over it.

A Reddit user claiming to be a former TikTok moderator did an “ask me anything” post about how the app’s moderation works, divulging interesting information about its algorithm. Starting on Sunday, the anonymous user on a burner account addressed many topical questions about what content gets a video flagged, throttled, or removed and how much AI plays a part in the process.

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A moderator for the forum in which they posted the AMA, r/Tiktokhelp, was unable to verify if this user really used to work for TikTok or not, but believes they’re legitimate because “his responses so far have been correct.” It’s unclear how this Reddit mod knows that this person’s answers are right, however.

‘I can tell you why your video got banned or suppressed’

Working under the username BurnerBoyBigBarry, this alleged former TikTok moderator started by addressing several common questions in their initial post. First, they explained exactly how much twerking can be in your video before the app flags it.

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“If it’s over half the length of the video you will be tagged if it’s a 60-second video only dance for 25 seconds,” they wrote. “Also if more than 50 percent of the screen is butt you can also be flagged.”

Part of a Reddit post on TikTok moderation reading ' When it comes to twerking it’s all about 2 things. What is the intent? If your are dancing in a club for a sec your good. Are you trying to get people “worked up” then that context may make it flag worthy. How much of the video is twerking? If it’s over half the length of the video you will be tagged if it’s a 60 second video only dance for 25 seconds. Also if more than 50 percent of the screen is butt you can also be flagged.'
u/BurnerBoyBigBarry via Reddit

Also, if you’re going to drive while filming, you have to make sure not to look at the camera and to show that both your hands are on the wheel, not holding your phone. OP writes breaking these rules is a surefire way to get flagged.

“Filming while driving is the easiest way to get flagged. If you do put it on a mount and make sure it’s obvious you have use of both hands. DO NOT look at the camera. If you look are the camera instead of the road it will get flagged,” they write.

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Talking about drugs will also ping TikTok’s moderation, and they know all the code words for every substance.

“Cigarettes/vapes on screen will get you throttled (low/slow views) killing momentum in the algorithm,” they wrote. “Talking about or referencing drugs/ paraphernalia will get your video throttled (slowing views) That included all the code words you made up. There is a list and I can search for ‘garden party’ if I want.”

TikTok also has a low tolerance for content that only shows children under the age of 13.

“Having kids in videos can get them banned. If there is a child and no adult appears on screen you can be flagged. We guess how old you are. If we are unsure if you’re over 13 your video will likely get flagged. Enough on an account gets it deleted.”

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Futhermore, women with larger breasts have a higher bar to overcome to have their videos approved—especially if they’re “bouncing” around.

“Women with large chests can have a harder time getting videos approved if you wear revealing clothing. This is not intentional or by design. This is due to human bias that the company actively trains against but still persists at times,” they write.

“While it is dumb avoid being overly suggestive or sexual. Also avoid being ‘overly’ bouncy or jumpy. This is something that is a constant issue honestly. Sorry we try hard not to but people still do.”

OP had no insight about repercussions over comments, as “Comments are a different department” and they are “unsure how they weigh things.”

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What happened to the TikTok algorithm during the US outage?

One of the top comments asked about the brief outage in the U.S. earlier this month. TikTok was down for many American users on January 19 before returning online with a message announcing a deal had been reached with President Donald Trump.

After logging back in, many U.S. users felt that their feed was drastically different than it was before the outage. This led to conspiracy theories about TikTok suppressing content that was critical of Trump, Meta, or Elon Musk, with some alleging that their feed seemed to reset after they blocked the Facebook TikTok account.

According to this possible former moderator, the outage reset the algorithms of every U.S. user. However, they also admitted that a new president could mean a new policy.

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Reddit comment reading ' It got reset basically you have to retrain it. Look up stuff you like or used to watch. Like, leave any comment, then click share and do copy link. Should push it in the right direction. Policy changes all the time and there is a new President. Policies may change what is now “shadow banned” or throttled. I can learn a new policy and it may change by the time I return the next day.'
u/BurnerBoyBigBarry via Reddit

“Policy changes all the time and there is a new President,” they wrote. “Policies may change what is now ‘shadow banned’ or throttled. I can learn a new policy and it may change by the time I return the next day.”

They also confirmed in their initial post that anything saying “rigged” or “stolen” in the context of an election is an automatic flag, which is why people speculating that Trump rigged the 2024 election feel targeted.

Do they know about cute winter boots?

They sure do. According to the Redditor, TikTok is aware that the term “cute winter boots” is code for referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Some TikTokers began using this code, hoping to boost their content containing information about immigrant raids, rights, and how to fight back.

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As it turns out, if this user is telling the truth, TikTok won’t throttle you for talking about ICE as long as you avoid encouraging certain behaviors.

Reddit comment reading 'The term itself is fine we know it means ICE so it’s pointless. We only flag if you say to attack or not cooperate with ICE. This is because encouraging violence or ignoring the direction of government agencies (ICE,CIA,FBI,FEMA, etc) is classified as dangerous misinformation'
u/BurnerBoyBigBarry via Reddit

“The term itself is fine we know it means ICE so it’s pointless,” they said. “We only flag if you say to attack or not cooperate with ICE. This is because encouraging violence or ignoring the direction of government agencies (ICE,CIA,FBI,FEMA, etc) is classified as dangerous misinformation.”

Why does TikTok suppress Luigi Mangione content?

There’s little doubt among TikTok users that content supporting the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is prone to flagging and removal. This alleged moderator confirmed suspicions that Luigi Mangione videos are on TikTok’s hit list and explains why attempts to cover up support of his actions don’t work.

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Reddit comment reading 'He recently became listed as a Designated Hate Entity meaning if anything related to him is in a video WITHOUT counter speech will be taken down. And unfortunately because humans are involved sarcasm and winks don’t work if you say “what he did was wrong” it has to come across as the point of the video basically. Anything is support at all is gone. That includes merch. If you wear a shirt with his catch phrase on it I have to take it down.'
u/BurnerBoyBigBarry via Reddit

“He recently became listed as a Designated Hate Entity meaning if anything related to him is in a video WITHOUT counter speech will be taken down. And unfortunately because humans are involved sarcasm and winks don’t work if you say ‘what he did was wrong’ it has to come across as the point of the video basically. Anything is support at all is gone.”

How much TikTok moderation is AI?

One of the most common questions about moderation on any social media platform is what it takes to get human eyes on a reported post. According to this Redditor, the initial rounds of moderation on TikTok is indeed the job of AI, often because AI detected it in the first place.

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In a response to a question about a new Hitler-positive trend on the app and why TikTok has allowed it to continue so far, the Redditor claims that users need to train the AI to spot it and take it down. Humans also need some training on this.

Reddit comment reading 'It’s likely a new trend. Once it’s prevalent enough we will have a training for it so we know to look out for it. If you keep reporting them it does actually help us find trends and helps us train the AI to pull them faster. Videos get to us because someone reported it or the AI scrapped it. Without that (for the most part) it’ll stay up.'
u/BurnerBoyBigBarry via Reddit

“It’s likely a new trend. Once it’s prevalent enough we will have a training for it so we know to look out for it. If you keep reporting them it does actually help us find trends and helps us train the AI to pull them faster.”

Of course, the AI is far from perfect. The alleged TikTok mod said that humans are the “final point” in the process, and sometimes the program does fail to get a report to a person. Then there’s human error.

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Reddit comment reading 'AI is involved but normally humans are the final point. However the AI may have never gotten it all the way to a person. If it’s fine enough in its eyes. It’s a weird system sometimes. If it gets to a person they may just be oblivious and make a mistake. Should be hit for hate speech ideally.'
u/BurnerBoyBigBarry via Reddit

“AI is involved but normally humans are the final point. However the AI may have never gotten it all the way to a person. If it’s fine enough in its eyes. It’s a weird system sometimes. If it gets to a person they may just be oblivious and make a mistake.”

The Daily Dot has reached out to BurnerBoyBigBarry for comment via Reddit.

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